Olkusz County ( pl, powiat olkuski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (

powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...

) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the

Polish local government reforms The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into ''voivodeships'' (provinces); these are further divided into ''powiats'' (counties or districts), and these i ...

passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is

Olkusz Olkusz ( yi, עלקיש ''Elkish'', german: 1941-45 Ilkenau) is a town in southern Poland with 36,607 inhabitants (2014). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998), it is the capita ...

, which lies north-west of the regional capital

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. The county also contains the towns of

Bukowno Bukowno is a town in Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Before 1975 it belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship and in 1975-1998 to the Katowice Voivodeship. Bukowno is located in western part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship, between K ...

, lying west of Olkusz, and

Wolbrom Wolbrom (german: Wolfram) Wojciech Blajer: ''Bemerkungen zum Stand der Forschungen uber die Enklawen der mittelalterlichen deutschen Besiedlung zwischen Wisłoka und San''. n:Późne średniowiecze w Karpatach polskich. red. Prof. Jan Gancarski. ...

, north-east of Olkusz. The county covers an area of . As of 2008 its total population is 113,910, out of which the population of Olkusz is 37,552, that of Bukowno is 10,695, that of Wolbrom is 9,075, and the rural population is 56,964.

Neighbouring counties

Olkusz County is bordered by

Zawiercie County __NOTOC__ Zawiercie County ( pl, powiat zawierciański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governmen ...

to the north, Miechów County to the east, Kraków County to the south-east,

Chrzanów County __NOTOC__ Chrzanów County ( pl, powiat chrzanowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local govern ...

to the south-west, and the city of

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula River, ...

and

Będzin County __NOTOC__ Będzin County ( pl, powiat będziński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

to the west.

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into six

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

s (one urban, two urban-rural and three rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

Industry

ZGH Boleslaw is a leading miner and producer of

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

products in eastern Europe. The history of zinc mining in the area dates to the 12th century when Casimir II the Just set up a mining settlement in the old area of Olkusz. The company has modernized its plants, and earned an

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO ...

certificate. ZGH Boleslaw
Manufacturing Today, 06/10/2008

References

External links

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